Oura unveils its Ring 5 with a thinner, lighter design starting at $399

Summary

Oura on Thursday unveiled the fifth generation of its popular smart ring, starting at $399. The Ring 5, which Oura describes as the world’s smallest smart ring, arrives just a year and a half after the company launched the Ring 4 and seven months after the Ring 4 Ceramic. The Ring 5 is 40% smaller than its predecessor and comes with more accurate sensing and enhanced battery life. The Ring 5 is launching alongside new software updates that include blood pressure signals, live activity tracking, on-demand care, and other features that will also roll out to the Oura Ring Gen3 and later. The new smart ring is available for pre-order starting today and will start shipping on June 4. It’s available in sizes 6 to 13 and comes in six finishes, including a redesigned Gold with a truer gold tone, an updated Deep Rose with a copper-like look, plus Silver, Brushed Silver, Black, and Stealth. The Black and Silver retail for $399, while the rest cost $499. For comparison, the Ring 4 started at $349. Maz Brumand, VP of Product at Oura, told TechCrunch that the company reduced the ring’s width by about two millimeters and its thickness by roughly 30%. Brumand noted that Oura members had been asking the company to make a ring that was smaller and thinner, prompting the shift toward a slimmer design. Oura achieved the new size by redesigning the mechanical, electrical, optical, battery, and sensing architectures, Brumand explained. Image Credits:Oura The new ring is designed to be desirable to a broader audience, especially people who have found smart rings too bulky in the past. Oura says the latest model is designed to look and feel like any other ring. While Oura could previously get away with a bulkier design as the dominant player in the smart ring market, new products from subscription-free rivals like RingConn and Ultrahuman have increased the pressure to innovate. Increased competition also likely explains why Oura is launching a new ring just a year and a half after the Rin...